Judd Apatow isn't a fan of the Academy's decision to put Barbie in the running for Best Adapted Screenplay.
Last week, Variety reported that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will not consider Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach's screenplay an original screenplay, as previously thought. Instead, Academy voters can only vote in the Best Adapted Screenplay category when deciding whether to nominate the film's screenplay.
On this issue, the director of “Knocked Up” did not hesitate to express his dissenting stance on social media.
“It is an insult to the authors to say they are based on existing material,” Apatow said wrote Saturday on X (formerly known as Twitter). “There was no existing material or story. There was a clear box.”
Between Ken's dream ballet and Barbie's cellulite, it goes without saying that the 2023 film is drastically different from any Barbie story before it. No other part of this series has ever dared to say that Ken is not Kenough! But even though the film follows a story entirely Gerwig and Baumbach's, the Academy's decision likely stems from the simple fact that Barbie features the pre-existing characters from the Mattel doll line.
Last year, films that tell original stories but feature pre-existing characters were all classified as adapted screenplays – even sequels to original works: these include nominees like Top Gun: Maverick, Toy Story 3, Borat 2 and Before Sunset.
Judd Apatow and Margot Robbie as Barbie.
Getty;WARNER BROS. PICTURES
While the Academy's decision continues to spark online debate among commentators about whether this is an accurate label for the film, the Writers Guild of America has classified Barbie as an original work and will be considered as such in the upcoming WGA Awards.
If the film receives an Oscar nomination for its screenplay, it would be Gerwig's fourth nomination. The actress-turned-writer-director received two nominations for her directorial debut “Lady Bird” (director and original screenplay), followed by another for 2019’s “Little Women” (adapted screenplay). The latter film received six in total Nominations including Best Picture.
Academy voting members will be able to cast their votes for Barbie's screenplay only in the adapted screenplay when nomination voting begins on January 11th.
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